Salisbury wrote this afternoon that should Sandberg shed the interim tag for next year, a leading candidate to fill his coaching staff may be a shortstop he was once traded with to the Cubs, Larry Bowa. Bowa, 68, managed the Phillies to a 337-308 composite mark from 2001 until Game 160 of the 2004 season. According to Salisbury, Bowa visited Sandberg on Wendesday. While Salisbury said Sandberg deflected questions about filling out his bench coach line-up, noting that he was currently the interim manager, the always good-for-a-quote Bowa had this to say to Salisbury:

“Let’s just say this: I like what I’m doing,” said Bowa, an analyst for the MLB Network since 2011. “Do I miss the game? Yeah. I miss a lot of parts of it. But that’s something that Ryno and Ruben Amaro and David Montgomery have to figure it out.”

A return to the Phillies would be interesting to say the least – Bowa did not leave the team on good terms, exiting after game 160 of the 2004 season on his own terms.

18 Comments

Sanburg’s intern tag being gone is no surprise he was going to manage this team no matter what happened this year. I like the idea of Bowa being on the bench. Maybe it is just because he was my favorite player when I was a kid. But I think it is more I think he would be a great bench coach. He certainly would not be afraid to speak his mind

Bowa as a Coach,he’ll yes.He will a real jolt to this team and while they are adding quality guys,tell Ryno to get a hold of Jamie Moyer and have him tutor those young arms that Ryno is looking at.2014 is shaping up to be a very interesting off season,after all the Phil’s are 600K short in attendance this year and as a season ticket holderI want to see a productive team that will compete.Ryno is on the right track,let him md this team into a winner!

Wasnt Bowa known to be verbally abusive. Man i can imagine Bowa digging into Rollins. Would be interesting to say the least. As Beta posted and as many probably knew Ryno was going to be the manager unless Cholly took us the WS this year. Im sure Cholly knew this as well. We do know need a few new coaches and faces around here though. Not sure if Bowa is the man though.

I never thought of her as much of a baseball fan. Might have been wrong. Maybe she read the contents of this thread years in advance before combining parenting and math in 1 sentence. . Has to be SOME explanation for the nonsensical thoughts like…

“Sanburg’s intern tag being gone is no surprise he was going to manage this team “no matter” what happened this year.”

followed up by…

“As Beta posted and as many probably “knew” Ryno was going to be the manager unless Cholly took us the WS this year .”

Suffice to say that in reality, SanDbErg picked a good time to do what appears to be a good job that seems the foundation of being offered the job on a non-interim basis. And everyone knows there is zero chance of a failed negotiation on terms because Sandberg is so desperate for work. Of course everyone knew that some day, “Sanburg” would appear as the spelling of his name on the internet where you can read things like Howard and Lee for CJ and Albert, or Stanton for Revere, Rollins and Galvis.

Of course people knew Sandberg would do this, that and the other thing based on the way fate followed the predictable path that led to his getting the Cubs gig, and leading them to a World Series win which had to happen by the Ten Commandments of The Law of Averages.

And people think folks like Howard Eskin and Mike Francesa are short with callers because their hosting skills are obnoxious.

KB, Why so nasty to other commenters? What purpose does it serve? They’re all baseball fans, all Phillies fans. And 2 that you’ve chosen to pick on today are long time loyal PN commenters and fans. We’ve lost too many of the old commenters to make the the ones that remain- uncomfortable about expressing their opinions. Disagree with them if you want, take them on, debate like crazy- but no need to disparage them like that in a separate comment like this to feed your ego.

What difference does it make to you if someone posts an outlandish trade or mis-spells a name? Do they have to be members of Mensa to please you? In other words- Who the f-ck are you to criticize the writing styles of others?

I will give you the same suggestion I have given many others. If you don’t like the comments of others- don’t read them. Please just make YOUR comments relevant to the author’s postings- or the Phillies in general, but leave the snide personal insults out of it. Okay?

I encourage anyone and everyone to feel free to comment, this is not an exclusive club.

Maybe Ma Bland forgot to tell him what my mother always told me …”If you don’t have something nice to say about someone then don’t say it at all.” I TRY to follow her words but, I have to admit, sometimes I don’t and I can be overly critical, harsh and sarcastic as well. My apologies to any and all PNers if I’ve offended you over the years.

In any event…Bowa to the bench??? Sure. Why not? Ryno seems to be sort of the quiet, more intellectual type (which is ok). Maybe someone directing a few F-bombs at some of these guys with thick skulls once in awhile would be a good thing.

Another question, however…. Who’s gonna replace Rich Dubee?? He CAN’T possibly be considered for a new contract. Can he??? ..

Looks like comedy central sideshow time. Maybe a little mental energy wasted will serve as an exercise in concentration to serve at least a recreational purpose, poorly spent as the time might be. .Can’t speak for nobody else, but far as I know, we’re basically here to discuss Phillies baseball, not enforce our self appointed policing practice by determining who should post how, what’s “nasty”, and where and when they should have private discussions..

Nasty is really a good word to have been used because it strongly reflects a more than clear lack of ability to understand the difference between that and disagreeing with the idea expressed in whatever writing style I choose to use within site guidelines, and there ain’t no law against having fun as feedback on an idea. That the ideas I expressed were most assuredly right on bears repeating in exact baseball terms.

Didn’t nobody KNOW Sandberg was getting any job at any point, and while you (general you) have to believe Sandberg will be the non-interim guy next year, that ain’t no fact until there’s a signed contract. The Howard/Lee deal was good comedy. I lost count at how many guys in that proposal have no trade deals. The Stanton deal, which I think was for Rollins, Galvis and whoever else was the limited player for Stanton was a wonderful idea. It’s the 17 millionth of 98 million in a row of trades suggested by a fan that thinks other clubs are in business to improve the team they follow most. Ain’t nobody stopping nobody from writing what they want. Speaking for myself, sometimes I let things ride I don’t feel inclined to respond to, sometimes I do. But I’m gonna let some self appointed cop tell me when or how to write? And even though I hardly attack them personally, and supposedly intimidate them (the comedy just gets better all the time), I’m gonna have my writing style let alone theirs critiqued? Good luck on that. My writing style appeals to who it’s intended for.

Perhaps I was completely out of line in one regard. Francesa or Eskin maybe would be real nice to the caller. Real nice.And I might give a flip what Lefty thinks outside of an occasional baseball thought.

Hey, by the way, thanks for writing that you aren’t perfect. I’m a big fan of news I can use. Even this is at least intended as comment on the ridiculousness of a message perceived here as weak more than anything personal. And the message, addressed to KB as if there’s some chumhood I don’t know about was presented “publicly.” I think Mel Allen would have gone bonkers using his HOW bout that to sum it up. Dig deeper, and you just might find more than 1 sign of the imperfection that was confessed.

To the best of my knowledge, police don’t usually make requests with the word “please” -or end them with “okay?” – at least they don’t in the movies. The words are generally much more curt and harsh, but whatever – “Ken Bland”, no one gave you an order you on “how to do” anything.

BTW – Your opinion of my motive in this situation is of no importance, the only thing that matters is that people that comment here are treated with respect, not ridiculed publicly so that they no longer want to post.

I’ll take your convoluted answer to my suggestion – to my request, as a “no”.

I can see bowa coming back and Samuel sticking but what I would really like to know is who will be the next pitching coach!!! I really want a proven name not just a faithful alum that has paid his dues!!! The staff is paid to much to skimp on coaching.

I wonder if it has ever happened before where two players who were traded together both ended up managing the team they were traded from at different times…and (possibly) both being back on that same team as manager/coach? Where are the factoid geeks….let me know!

When I saw a search for factoid geeks, I couldn’t jump hurdles fast enough to advance in line to answer this one.

Truth is, as you fine tuned the question to narrow the oodds of it to infintesmile, I don’t know. But, I would bet that if you searched enough non playing roles in the game, you’d find some highly unique stories that defy the odds like this potential union.

I don’t suppose the Niekros coming out of the same womb would be too explosive a match, but if you go to uniform personnel, maybe 2 brothers transacting to the same club in the same year like the Uptons might not have any similarities, or be as unique, but I bet there’s SOMETHING out there that at least challenges a possible Sandberg-Bowa reunion in uniqueness.

Bowa isn’t the answer. While he is very knowlegeable about the game, his knowlege of people is sorely lacking. Not everyone can be made to play better through being ostrasized repeatedly. Some very good players just need to be left alone, which Bowa has always seemed incapaple of doing. Bowa’s gung ho attitude might work for some, but it’d be a problem for others, and could easily produce resentment and bad play.

I’m all for Bowa. Always liked him as a player and as a manager his record isn’t too shabby considering the lack of talent on the team in those years.
Now pitching coach? Moyer for sure. Schmidt would be a good hitting coach also. But that’s just my opinion. Schmidt might teach some patients to Howard. Schmidt struck out a lot but improved with age. He also walked on average 100 times a year.

A few weeks have gone by and this rumor has finally been fulfilled. It’s cool. Bo10 is a good baseball man, knowledge and experience up the yin yang, and has a good amount to offer. I’ve been swept up in the Bowa syndrome many times as he’s moved about, old favorites never die, but for whatever reason, I’m past that. I was unmoved by the rumor when it broke, and don’t look at Larry as a returning favorite, more as a product that has x to offer, and expect it to be good.

I do have mixed emotions on the hiring in a sense. I like this bench coach idea, I don’t know that it wouldn’t have been useful last year, overmatched by talent limitations, but a second set of eyes is good. A little besised the point is I wonder if there’ll come a time when a bench coach might be wrongly named by being miked from the press box to the dugout, and offer feedback from there.

Bo will leave the MLB Network with 2 years of additional exposure to the influx of what they call advanced stats than he had before. Unless he was being political, NOT a Bowa trait, he seemed fairly receptive to some of it, and I hope he is even a better contributor than he would have been prior to the network gig. Not that he has to get carried away with it, but I’m not looking for him to be here because he’s part of the good old boy network. All the sidebar crap about his personality, rough with the players, I got no time, and less interest than zero in. I never heard any complaints from when he worked with Torree, I’m just interested in his baseball knowledge, and communication of same. But it’s cool that he won’t have to watch his language with being miked.

Pete Mackinin’s back. My only reaction to that is the timing of the decision on his part. This “internal” Yankee candidate was maybe filler space. Maybe somewhat credible, who knows. I think that job comes down to we’ll believe Joe’s not back when it happens. But Pete had a couple interviews a couple years back, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he waited to see if he could get a manager’s job, and then worried about coaching. But gimme a break on trying to be an expert on who’s a good coach, and who’s not other than what you read, but the Phils seem to have gotten started well on building a coaching staff, even if Wally Joyner seems to have done a good job, again, largely off what we read, which is as visible as it gets.

I guess it’ll be good to see Bo in red stripes again. But the bottom line is not the sidebar stuff, or the hero comin’ home. It’s about the what he does in the here and now.